Before we get to the devotional reading for today, please notice we skipped over Genesis 24 as we come to our daily reading in Genesis 25. Genesis 24 is the "love story" of Isaac and Rebekah and the process that God used to lead her to Isaac. I would suggest that you read the whole of Genesis 24.

In our devotional today we have come to one of the most important chapters in Bible Prophecy. This chapter reveals to us the three families that Abraham had in his 175 years here on the earth.

I will not be able to develop all of the verses in Genesis 25 that deal with the families of this very important Biblical character, Abraham. We will just look at two of the three families, the families of Ishmael and Isaac. Verses 13-18 deal with Ishmael and 19-26 with Isaac and his offspring.

Remember, Ishmael was the firstborn son of Abraham, the result of a relationship with his wife’s “handmaid”, 16:1. Remember, Ishmael did not “father” the Arab world, but did go to live in a place in Abraham’s day, which was called “Arabia”, verse 18.

Ishmael’s twelve sons, would become the leaders of the twelve tribes that formed the nation of Saudi Arabia of today. These “tribes” would become the tribes of Arabia, the “pre-Islamic” culture. Ishmael was to become one of the nations of this world, and only one, Genesis 17:20.

Again, I state that Ishmael did not ”father” the Arab world. It could be said however, that Ishmael did “father” the “Islamic” world. Mohammad, the founder of Islam, stated that he was a direct descendant of Ishmael.

Then in verses 19 to 26 we see a record of the life and family of Isaac. This second born son to Abraham was the “son of promise”, the one who would carry the plan and promise of God forward, into the next generation.

God’s plan for Isaac and his wife Rebekah was for them to have a son that God would use to carry the Abrahamic Covenant along to the Jewish people. However, there was a problem, Rebekah was barren. Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife and she conceived.

Interesting how the Lord works, instead of a son, God gives them two boys, Esau and Jacob. The Lord told Rebekah before their birth that there were “two nations” in her womb, verse 23. Jacob would become the Jewish nation of Israel and Esau, the Palestinian people of today (see my audio series, “Esau and the Palestinians”).

We see in this prophetic passage the major players of the “last days”, the Islamic world, the Palestinian people and the Jewish people. There is much we could develop along these lines but for now let’s realize that almost 3,500 years ago the Lord was using Moses, the writer of Genesis, to lay out the prophetic scenario for the “end times”.

This devotional reading for today should help us to realize that Bible prophecy doesn’t start in the known “prophetic books” but it all begins in the “book of beginnings”, the book of Genesis. This is the reason for selecting this passage for our devotional reading.

PRAYER THOT: Thank you Lord for the record of the Jewish “forefathers” and helping me to see how, in your plan, you set in motion all that will lead up to the “end times”. Please help me to live for you as I see your prophetic plan unfolding and quickly approaching the time of the end.